Baseball Meets No. 10 Virginia On Tuesday - Penn State Athletics (2024)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Penn State baseball team continues its Spring Break trip with a midweek contest against No. 10 Virginia on Tuesday at Disharoon Park. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. with a broadcast on ACCNX.

Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 7-3 after sweeping its doubleheader at Davidson on Sunday. The Nittany Lions took game one, 14-7, and game two, 6-4.

J.T. Marr collected two hits, including a two-run homer, and four RBI to lead four Nittany Lions with multi-hit and multi-RBI performances in Sunday's first game. Penn State rode a strong start from freshman Mason Horwat to a victory in game two.

Virginia, coached by Brian O'Connor, is 10-1 this season after winning two of three games against UMass. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 10 in the D1Baseball Poll.

For updates on the Penn State baseball team, please check @pennstatebase on X and Instagram.

The 2024 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.

FOLLOW ALONG

• ACCNX
• Live Stats
• Game Notes

LEADING OFF

• Penn State visits No. 10 Virginia for a midweek contest.
• The Nittany Lions are 11-15-2 all-time against Virginia and played a three-game series in Charlottesville in 2022.
• Penn State is coming off a series win at Davidson after sweeping Sunday's doubleheader.
• The Nittany Lions won 14-7 in game one as four players recorded multi-hit and multi-RBI performances.
• Penn State took game two, 6-4, after a strong start from freshman Mason Horwat, who went five innings and allowed one hit and two runs while not giving up a hit through the first five frames.
• After hitting .417 with five hits and seven RBI at Davidson, J.T. Marr leads the team with a .444 average and 20 hits. He paces the Big Ten in total hits and hits per game (2.0), good for ninth nationally in hits per game.
• Jaden Henline improved to 2-0 on the season with five solid innings to pick up the win in Sunday's first game vs. Davidson.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA

• Head Coach Brian O'Connor is in his 21st season at Virginia.
• The Cavaliers are 849-354-2 under O'Connor and have reached at least an NCAA Regional in 17 seasons, including a College World Series appearance in 2023.
• Virginia is 10-1 this season and ranked No. 10 in the D1Baseball Poll.
• UVA won two of three games in its series against UMass last weekend.
• Virginia has a .347 team average and is scoring 9.8 runs per game.
• Bobby Whalen leads the team with a .519 average to go with 11 RBI, while Henry Godbout is hitting .515 with a homer and 10 RBI.
• Henry Ford and Harrison Didawick are tied for the team lead with three homers, while Ford paces the squad with 14 RBI.
• Virgnia's pitching staff has a 4.19 ERA and is allowing a .264 opponent batting average.
• Cullen McKay has started both of Virginia's midweek games so far this season and is 1-0 with an 0.79 ERA in 11.1 innings. He has 12 strikeouts.
• In his last start against VMI, McKay worked six innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out six.
  

AGAINST THE CAVALIERS

• Penn State is 11-15-2 all-time against Virginia.
• The teams last met in 2022 with the Cavaliers winning all three games. Kyle Hannon went 7-of-8 at the plate in that series.
• Penn State is 5-12 in games at Virginia with wins in 1928, 1933, 1999, 2001 and 2004.

NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

• As a team, Penn State leads the Big Ten in on-base percentage (.431) and OPS (.885).
• The Nittany Lions rank second in the conference in walks (61), while holding third in batting average (.303) and sac flies (6).
• Penn State has five players with a .344 or better average, six with a .400+ on-base percentage and six with a .400+ slugging percentage.
• Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .444 average and 20 hits. He own two doubles, a homer, 11 RBI and nine runs.
• Marr has a hit in all 10 games this season, including six multi-hit performances.
• The South Carolina native leads the Big Ten in hits per game (2.0), ranking ninth in the country, and total hits (20), sitting 23rd in the nation.
• Junior Matt Maloney is batting .364 with a team-high 13 RBI along with a double and a homer.
• Graduate student Adam Cecere is hitting .357 with 10 hits, including two doubles and a team-high three homers, eight RBI and 13 runs. He has a team-high 11 walks and six hit-by-piches.
• Cecere paces the team with a .750 slugging percentage and a .587 on-base percentage.
• He leads the Big Ten with a 1.337 OPS and on-base percentage (.587) while sitting third in slugging percentage (.750). He's also third in the conference in total walks (11) and walks per game (1.1).
• Cecere is one of 15 current Division I players with 35+ homers and 124+ RBI in their career.
• Among active DI players, Cecere is 17th in homers (34) and 50th in RBI (124).
• Bobby Marsh is hitting .345 with six RBI, while Joe Jaconski has a .344 average, five RBI, six runs and 10 walks.
• Jaconski is fifth in the Big Ten in walks (10) and walks per game (1.0).
• Tayven Kelley, Bryce Molinaro and Grant Norris each have two homers, while Molinaro has 11 RBI and Norris has nine.
• Kyle Hannon ranks sixth in the Big Ten with five steals.

BATS WARM UP IN GAME 2 AT DAVIDSON

• Penn State's bats broke through in Penn State's 14-7 win over Davidson in the first game on Sunday's doubleheader, and the second game in the overall series.
• Four Nittany Lions had multi-hit and multi-RBI games, led by J.T. Marr with two hits and four RBI. Marr's four RBI included a two-run homer. He also scored three times.
• Bryce Molinaro collected two hits, three RBI and three runs, while Bobby Marsh had two hits and three RBI. Grant Norris drove in two runs on two hits.
• Adam Cecere added a solo homer and three runs.

HANNON, KELLEY, NORRIS CLIMB RECORDS LISTS

• Senior Kyle Hannon already has five steals in 2024.
• With five steals this year, Hannon has moved up to a tie for fifth all-time at Penn State with 39 career steals. He is currently tied with Kevin Billotte (1995-98).
• Hannon ranked second in the Big Ten in steals per game (0.55) and total steals (27) last season.
• The Harrisburg native is one of 14 Division I players, and the only Big Ten player, returning for the 2024 season who posted 7+ homers and 27+ steals last season.
• Senior+ Tayven Kelley owns 11 career triples, tied fifth all-time at Penn State. He is one triple away from tying third place.
• Graduate student Grant Norris' .542 career slugging percentage sits sixth all-time at Penn State.

HENLINE, HORWAT COLLECT WINS ON THE MOUND AT DAVIDSON

• Senior Jaden Henline improved to 2-0 on the season with a solid performance on the mound to help Penn State to a victory in game one of Sunday's doubleheader. He tossed five innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out one.
• Henline earned a win against Stanford in his first start of the season.
• Freshman Mason Horwat followed with an impressive performance in his first career start in the second game on Sunday's twin bill.
• He fired five innings, giving up one hit and two runs to earn his first career win.
• Horwat did not allow a hit before the start of the sixth inning, faced the minimum through five and retired 11-straight batters between the second and fifth innings.
• Chic DeGaetano (1.2) and Mason Butash (1.0) provided strong relief performances to close out a tight 6-4 win in Sunday's second game.

NITTANY LIONS CONTINUE FIRST SEASON UNDER GAMBINO, NEW STAFF

• Mike Gambino was hired on July 3, 2023 as the 15th head coach in Penn State baseball program history.
• In 13 seasons at the helm of his alma mater Boston College, Gambino tallied 291 wins.
• He guided the Eagles to a pair of NCAA Regionals in 2016 and 2023 and an NCAA Super Regional in 2016.
• He recorded five seasons of 25 or more wins and eight seasons with 10 or more ACC wins.
• Gambino coached 34 MLB Draft selections, including three first round picks and eight picks among the top five rounds. Five of his former BC players have reached the MLB.
• He coached five All-American selections and five freshman All-American honorees as well as 16 All-ACC selections.
• Associate head coach Scott Loiseau joins the program after serving as head coach at Southern New Hampshire from 2016-23 and 2008-14. He posted a 480-209-2 record in 16 years as a head coach, while leading the Penmen to five Division II College World Series appearances and 11-straight NCAA Tournament Appearances. He coached 12 MLB Draft selections.
• Assistant Coach Nick Puccio arrives in Happy Valley after serving as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Northeastern from 2019-23, helping the Huskies to three-straight seasons of 30+ wins and CAA titles and NCAA Regional appearances in 2021 and 2023.
• Assistant Coach Will Jauss steps into the pitching coach role after serving as director of pitching technology at Boston College in 2022 and 2023.
• Penn State alum Mason Mellott remains on staff as director of pitching technology after helping to coach the Penn State pitching staff to post 411 strikeouts in 2023.
• Former Nittany Lion standout Ryan Wheeler returned to Happy Valley to serve as director of program development/alumni relations after spending the last nine seasons on the Saint Joseph's staff, including the last five years as associate head coach. He ranks second in PSU history with 109 career walks and sits second with 184 consecutive starts.
• Director of Operations/Player Development Jake Stone enters his fifth season on the Penn State staff.

UP NEXT

• Penn State returns to Cary, North Carolina this weekend, March 8-10, for a three-game series against Harvard.